Fly Fishing for an ICE AGE RELIC!! (Trout Fishing & Conservation)

In this video I fish for a weekend with my buddy Dustin Wichterman and learn about some of the work Trout Unlimited is doing in the great state of West Virginia.
Dustin Wichterman has become a good buddy of mine over the past year and has devoted his career and the better part of his life to trout conservation and habitat improvement. Dustin is the Associate Director of Trout Unlimited’s Mid Atlantic Cold Water Habitat program and one of the only people I know that has caught a confirmed 15 inch native brook trout… and not just 1, he’s caught several. This man knows his stuff, so if you’re a brookie fisherman or someone who is just interested in the ice age relic, then you’ll want to watch this video.
We went fly fishing on several small creeks looking for the Native Brook Trout. We caught handful of fish, but more importantly I got to learn and witness first hand what type of habitat improvement is being done on some of the waters that are near and dear to my heart.
I hope everyone enjoys this video! Thanks for watching and let me know if you like this video and what ways it could've been improved.
#trout #fishing #flyfishing

[@michaeltichonuk2176]

Conversations on Conservation is always good...this one is no exception.

[@Cbockhoff]

As a kid 45 years ago I remember the old timers sitting around the fire along a famous WV stream telling stories of fishing these stream pre clear cut. I remember them saying that stream was loaded with 15 inch brookies.

[@hardmanfishing]

That’s amazing! I love hearing those stories. Hopefully one day we can get back to that type of fishing.

[@Vitaly63Rus]

Ребята, вы молодцы! / Guys, you are great! И показываете хороший пример другим рыболовам, как нужно сохранять природу! / And you show a good example to other anglers how to save nature! Like!

[@tphvictims5101]

I’m 70 years old. Parts of the Beaverkill look like that. Trees all over the place. Amazing fishing.

[@TerminatorEye62]

This was my favorite video I've seen so far on this channel. Love seeing these kinds of conservation efforts being made for WV. Stay bent up!

[@hardmanfishing]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it

[@bernie5970]

One of your best clips yet! Loved learning about brookie habitat. Keep inviting these experts ... absolutely EXCELLENT.❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@leehjones]

Man. I get beautiful scenery, great fishing, and you sneak in a dynamite history and conservation lesson. Wish I could thumbs-up this video five times. 👍👍👍👍👍

[@hardmanfishing]

I'm glad you enjoyed it!!

[@kriyashivajiva]

thank GOD for brookies and the wild places they live!

[@sgttombailes3380]

OUTSTANDING !!!! What more could be said ! HoooaH !!

[@humid-rb7rt]

Great beautiful and beautiful brookies!

[@mfddb3084]

I'm from PA and I've been fishing a small creek since I was a kid and to this day I can put 18 inch natives out of that creek. They are so beautiful and put up one heck of a fight!

[@viking7560]

I’m pretty sure a Brook Trout stream is the portal to heaven.

[@bdickinson6751]

Heaven on Earth anyway.

[@jakepage7383]

the color on that brookie......just wooow....wow

[@ajviens4371]

One of your best. I too love to chase wild brook trout. Great work by Dustin and TU.

[@James.t69]

When I saw the TikTok and then the short I was like “Cant wait for this video” 😂 Great content as always yall 🎉

[@hardmanfishing]

Heck yes!! Glad someone is watching the tiktoks and then coming to youtube to watch the video

[@James.t69]

@@hardmanfishing Ive been here since around 20k!

[@matman333666]

Love trout fishing the fly is relaxing for me

[@scotedler3984]

This is why I went back to school, to improve the trout streams where I lived. Unfortunately life had other ideas and I do different conservation work now.

[@darrelbaillie7829]

Thank you for the awesome video. I went fly fishing today in a remote area- not for trout; but anything that would bite. I caught two small moonfish and two what looked like a type of bream. What an awesome day. Videos like yours inspire me to keep on fishing. Thank you 😊

[@Dcll8451]

Habitat restoration has to be my favorite thing on the planet

[@johnbakken1853]

Important work for all of us. Thank you.

[@richardowens6119]

Fantastic. What great work.

[@patjordan1955]

I can’t express how truly grateful for all those who r implementing these conservation measures to help these remarkable fish! Thank. You!

[@MtnManTom1]

Awesome Video ! Thanks for sharing... You're giving me the West Virginia fly fishing fever. Looks like a trip is in order late summer early fall 2023.

[@ShredCentralStation]

This is awesome. I grew up trout fishing summers in Nevada with my grandfather. The first summer he moved there when I was only 7 or so, I remember coming upon a natural pool filled with 12-20" fish. We didn't even fly fish, just dropped hooks in with worms (he was a sea fisherman from NorCal that retired in the mountains so this type of fishing was new to him as well). As the snowpack shrank over the years in the 80s and 90s, the streams shrank and so did the fish. Eventually, there just wasn't much there anymore. Now living in the Mid-Atlantic and recreating in the same areas you are showing, already wanting to buy land there for retirement, this is just amazing to see. Your description of "why brooke trout" is perfect and "around the next bend" instantly made me think of coming around a bend and seeing that pool full of huge fish as a kid. Good on you sir keep it up!

[@melazmusic]

their spots remind me of those little balls you put in flower vases, really an amazing and spectacular feat of evolution to see something so beautiful and yet so fragile.

[@melazmusic]

orbeez was the word I was looking for.

[@erikbohlin6018]

Amazing video, great to see how much u guys love that fish unfortunately I live in Sweden where brook trout are considered as invasive…

[@sc100ott]

I enjoy your videos! Fly fishing for trout in small streams is my favorite pastime. The story in this video is very similar to my home state of Michigan-except nobody is really sure whether brook trout are truly native, or if they moved in to replace the (now extirpated) grayling. Either way, we have the same sad history of clear-cut forests and poor culvert design. Yet time, and better forest/stream management, are bringing our cold water resources back slowly. The north slope of the Upper Peninsula is structured much like West Virginia and the Appalachians in general-old, tree-covered mountains, now eroded to big hills, still with higher gradient streams tumbling over waterfalls into plunge pools and rocky bottoms. The rest of the state, however, is a very different structure, with low-gradient spring-fed streams flowing over a bottom of sand and gravel. There are no waterfalls, no plunge pools, but lots of wood. Because there are no barriers, you almost never get pure brook trout populations, as usually there are browns mixed in, and very often young steelhead/rainbows mixed in if there are no dams between the headwaters and the Great Lakes. But still, blue-lining small creeks deep in the woods, tight casts, and dreams of a 15” brookie are the same. I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years, and my best brook trout is only 12”, but I still have those dreams!

[@massimilianoromani9271]

What amazing Brook trouts !!!! Unbelievable colors!!!! 👍🏼👋🇮🇹

[@deputyperkins1]

great video as usual, been following you an your brother here for a while now. I have a cabin on the very upper Elk River, and the Slatyfork (dry branch portion) is literally in my back yard. It's been a while since I have seen any brookies on the Slaty or the Elk. I always just assumed the larger browns were eating them. Its awesome to see someone dedicating that much effort into rehabilitating the smaller waterways. That benefits the entire ecosystem, not just the trout. send me a message if Dustin or you guys at Harman, want to swing by my property. Theres a ton of blue lines on the map, to help out. The Monongahela Natn'l Forest is on the other side of the water from my property.

[@jeffkresch8975]

Would love to see more of these in the future. Rocking job gentlemen.

[@davidleimeister5027]

I am so glad that we are able to make the fishing so much better with great organizations like Trout Unlimited. Keep up the great work and service to future fishing generations.

[@hardmanfishing]

Thanks David!!

[@jarrettlandreth285]

This is such an important message, thank you for giving guys like Dustin a platform to share the fantastic restoration work that is being done to preserve our native fish! You’re the man!

[@hardmanfishing]

Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@kyleautrey8320]

Great video! I love venturing up high in WNC in search of brookies. Lots of rainbows lately and not so many brookies.

[@adventuretimefishinghunting]

Great video! I enjoyed the info that all of TU puts into there work. It's something pretty special for sure. Brook trout are hands down my favorite dish to catch!

[@hardmanfishing]

Thank you!! I'm glad you enjoyed it

[@RJZS1]

Yeah more like this please

[@michaelsmith7193]

Outstanding! By all means, more videos like this - when you can. Your video offered some excellent information every angler serious about native eastern brook trout conservation should know and take to heart. Hats off to Dustin Wichterman for his efforts, and to you for sharing the results of his endeavors!

[@hardmanfishing]

That's exactly right! If you're serious about brookie fishing this video is for you. We wanted to try and raise awareness for the type of work that goes into brook trout conservation so when you're out on the stream you can recognize it and appreciate it for what it is. Thanks for watching

[@scotthamilton9581]

By far this is my favorite video that you have ever made. It was very informative and shows what the freat state of West Virginia is doing for the Brooklyn Trout. I would love to see more videos like this when you can.

[@hardmanfishing]

I definitely think I'm going to! Of course these videos do take a lot more time and effort. They also require multiple people to line up schedules. But I think its for sure worth it

[@Tsaustin1]

What a wonderful video. It is great to see people working to preserve these spots in our beautiful state. We need more of this! Keep up the great work

[@hardmanfishing]

Couldn't agree more! Thanks for watching man

[@zumalot]

Such an educational treat about a good man helping my favorite trout species. Some of those colors were brilliant!

[@hardmanfishing]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@ericdwines1980]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@brianbowman9127]

Great video guys. Thanks

[@ben.schuyler]

Really cool video. Awesome fishing, incredible environmental work. Love it.

[@aaronshumate2303]

WOW. If you guys every make it to Peru, you'll love it.

[@Pragwo1f]

What a legacy for Dustin to leave behind for future generations. Wonderful! As I was watching, I was thinking a new ambition of mine is to finally venture across the Pond and fish for real native brook trout before old age prevents me. Thank you, Jon, as ever for offering those us on the other side of the Atlantic a glimpse of these beautiful fish and their equally stunning habitat.

[@hardmanfishing]

Yep Dustin is a good dude. Glad you enjoyed the video and I hope you make it over here one day!

[@jonathanstoffregen390]

Yes, more videos like this would be very much appreciated, please.

[@dannysmith4238]

Great and informative video. For my money there's no more beautiful fish than the brook trout. Thanks for sharing. 👍

[@leemowers9395]

Very cool, love the history, and the current approach to rebuilding the habitat.

[@jeffreylea2319]

Really enjoyed this video- TU is working in CT as well to restore stream banks by planting trees and in places adding wood, but nothing yet on the scale of the operations you have shown in WV!

[@stringtwister7654]

Wow this video was much help! Thanks for taking the time and telling us which fly, leader length, giving us some casting techniques! You absolutely Rock Jonathan hardman

[@briljantje9583]

Nice vid and interesting piece of history!

[@FishFinderMike]

Love this video!

[@salmotrutta471]

Great to see fish like that are coming back into WV, can’t wait for them to come back to MD

[@hardmanfishing]

MD is doing some work as well! It just takes time. Thanks for watching

[@phillipkacmar1265]

I worked for TU in WV putting wood in the creeks back in 15 and 16. It was some hard work but it was the most rewarding job I've done. They got the excavator for stream work the year after I left lol. I'm glad people are using resource and more excited seeing the fish using them.

[@phillipkacmar1265]

Glad to see Dustin is still there and the ambassador for that area too.

[@hardmanfishing]

Thank you for your work in restoring and creating habitat! I'm sure a lot of people have fished those streams and had a blast. Thanks for watching

[@thomassammons1369]

Great video! Your videos drive my passion!

[@skippy7896]

Excellent episode.

[@intothewildwego7085]

By far one of the best videos you've ever put out, and there's been some bangers! I loved the information, passion, and intention behind this video. Killer job!

[@hardmanfishing]

Thank you so much!! Glad you enjoyed it

[@patjordan1955]

Omg! Those fish are beautiful!!! Can’t wait to see u catch your first 15” Brook trout!

[@hardmanfishing]

I'll get one eventually! They aren't stupid unfortunately so it's taken a little longer than I'd like

[@GLWhitt]

Love it. In addition to your excellent filming, thoroughly enjoy the added information about these special and unique fish and hearing about restoration efforts. Gives hope to a better future for the fish and our enjoying the.

[@hardmanfishing]

That's what we need more of in this world! Hope. Thanks for watching

[@jeremywanless2450]

Excellent production. Well spoken and engaging look into this important work. These fish are a true mountain treasure.

[@hardmanfishing]

Thank you!!

[@themidnightrider6805]

Amazing video!

[@jimgollach6202]

Terrific job by TU, I love fishing for brookies, and visiting there homes. Enjoyed watching. 👍

[@hardmanfishing]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@oldsmugglerflyfishing]

Great video!

[@robertwestphal7443]

Great information, good people doing work that will impact generations. Thanks.

[@hardmanfishing]

Couldn’t agree more. That’s what it’s all about! Thanks for watching

[@Comfortbug116]

I'd really like to see more videos like this! Let me hear from a stream and river conservationist any day.

[@dannyloving5435]

Super dope bro.

[@deanvarner9308]

Absolutely awesome freaking video. Gotta love those brookies

[@hardmanfishing]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed

[@tonywalkingstick8883]

What an awesome history of the Brook Trout from that part of the country and how about that Beautiful specimen. A huge Yes, I would like to see more videos on this subject and always tight lines.

[@hardmanfishing]

Thanks Tony! I'll definitely be trying to make more videos like these in the future

[@lanecountybigfooters5716]

Great explanation of why wood is important - I learned something today! Beautiful fish. Thanks to both of you for working towards trout conservation.

[@hardmanfishing]

Wood is good! Thanks for watching

[@frogsnacks]

@@hardmanfishing That segment made me think about my creeks around me, up here in Ontario beavers take care of maintaining the creeks in that sense, is there not a beaver population up there? I don't think I've ever seen you fish a beaver pond or dam.

[@callumnoblett4905]

Some very skillful casting going on there in what looks like a tight casting space. Or perhaps you hooked a few trees too😊

[@derekpowell1762]

Great vid

[@WowomgCool]

Awesome video

[@appleseeD552]

Great vid as always man. 🙂👍 Love to see this kind of effort being made to prolong a species and to also help restore what was lost in events that took place prior to the awareness we have today. Peace ✌😎

[@hardmanfishing]

I'm glad you enjoyed!!

[@henryleslievermont6004]

Enjoyed the History :)

[@chritstopherbove8911]

Very cool video

[@stephentracey7409]

Another fantastic video, thanks! We are truly their best friends, even if we can’t help piercing their lips and teaching what not to eat. Where’d the beast from the opening shot come from? Different day I guess. I was hoping to see a little more of him.

[@mikebraden9756]

Fantastic job on this one!

[@hardmanfishing]

Thanks!!

[@dltguitar6532]

One of the most beautiful fish in the world

[@hardmanfishing]

amen!

[@reddsflies]

Killer content as always

[@rickhoxie7121]

I'm drawn to rivers and streams daydreaming about going and never leaving

[@matthewotis3594]

The rainbows and browns have eaten our east TN brookies up. Atleast where I live. I walked my holler other day to the top and it only had a very few bows in it. 20 years ago we caught brook trout up in the hollers. No more. I know of 1 creek where I can still get a few and they're tiny In the super skinny water.

[@angleofattack5942]

I recently fished a section of stream where TU had instituted a new fish tagging system during the most recent stocking of brown trout. I caught one of the tagged fish, but unfortunately didnt get a clear look at the tag number before releasing the fish. It made me realize, however, that the recent increase in productivity of that stream over the last year or two might have a lot to do with TU’s work. I have seen some seriously massive brown and rainbow trout at that spot, so I hope that they keep up the good work and continue to restore other sections of stream too, because along with brown and rainbow trout, I’m fairly certain that the stream is capable of supporting brook trout as well, if the water temp could be kept low enough during the summer. Its good to see that TU’s work has had impacts in other locations as well. Great video!

[@hardmanfishing]

That's awesome!! Glad you enjoyed the video

[@jeffrey4869]

Another awesome video. The native brookie vids are the best! There's a certain mystical draw to the places where these fish live. Great to see what W Virginia is doing for their brookies. I wish Pa would make these kinds of efforts to support the native brook trout and the habitat that they require to flourish. Something I've noticed several times in your vids is, W Virginia has consistently bigger natives than in Pa. We need to get in gear.

[@hardmanfishing]

Thank you!! I've not fished Pa for brookies so I can't even compare them. But I will say that not all of WV has good brookie fishing, but we're fortunate to have a very large national forest that holds some crazy good water.

[@deadeyes8699]

Dope video

[@andikarizki]

Fishing greetings 😊😊 good morning sir👍

[@rickrichardg2969]

Really appreciate your commitment to both the fishing and conservation. As I get into old age, I find just how much I don't know about many things I'm passionate about. I had no idea that WV was almost clear cut of red spruce.

[@hardmanfishing]

Yep! It was clear cut of almost everything. Guardineer knob has the only section of old growth Red Spruce, and it's only there because of a mistake made when the area was surveyed.

[@jeffreylea2319]

@@hardmanfishing Huge sections of NH near my family's homestead were also clear cut of red spruce, for the lumber and paper industries, in the 1850s to early 1900s, so the forests there are also young ones.

[@twilkpsu]

Great video. Brookies LOVE wood. In WI, no wood means little brookies or none at all.

[@davidclever1534]

The best

[@calebrostron9856]

I went to a trout unlimited fly fishing camp in New Hampshire this past summer

[@OpportunityFishing]

That's crazy about all the logging! Glad TU is doing some good work out there. I've always wondered why Native Brookies seem small, compared to the brookies in the rockies, but I understand more now.

[@hardmanfishing]

Yep! It's tough out east but it's getting better. Just takes time for nature to heal

[@obozomustgo5449]

Long ago when I went to Virginia Tech, a favorite weekend past time of ours was heading north to go deep into the WV wilderness camping and catching beautiful brookies. Still some of my fondest memories. Thanks for the video, Jon. Let's go Brandon!

[@debraknowlton4381]

I have been all over the Monongahela forest and I have never caught brook trout like this! How beautiful! How do I get to these places. Thank you for your videos!!!

[@ravenator5396]

By far my favorite fish grew up fishing for them down thru Fredrick Washington County in MD my wall mounted is 16 3/4 " almost 3lb girl at 10years to get to 15" she's gotta be 13-15 years old 😀

[@erictrussell3227]

I caught a 16" wild brookie in a PA tributary to the Swatara and have pics.

[@jblocker6613]

Nice video!! That guy knows brookies. Living near the the Driftless Area I think our native brooks are losing ground to the brown trout.

[@hardmanfishing]

Yeah we've lost some ground to browns as well. But for the most part they seem to coexist

[@barns.flydrift]

fish at 11:16 is gorgeous😍

[@matthewjasinski5636]

Thank you for this video. I was shocked a few years ago when I learned that nearly all of our national forests were actually relatively new growth. I'd love to see how large a mid-atlantic brookie could grow under perfect habitat conditions.

[@hardmanfishing]

You and me both! My dad said when the government first acquired the national forest around here most of the trees were just saplings. To see what it's grown to in roughly 100 years gives you hope for the future. Thanks for watching

[@jeromedwojak918]

Great video, beautiful scenery, fantastic fishing experience you provided for us! Appreciate it!

[@hardmanfishing]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@NickTheMadFisherman]

The fact that guys like Dustin exist give me hope for our fisheries. We need more guys like him fighting for our natice trout streams.

[@thomasropka3017]

Fantastic. If, IF I had the property and cash….

[@GLWhitt]

What rod do you prefer for these small streams?